Until We Meet Again
by Shimmering tear
Summary: [ONE SHOT] Ash and Misty meet almost a decade later, two different people, grown up and mature but their flame still burning, will they stay together or is it too late?


**Hi there everyone! This is one of the manyficcies I promised to post as soon as I finish my mocks! Please read and enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon…I don't even own my soul…**

**Until We Meet Again**

**_Him..._**

"I'm late again" Ash muttered under his breath, feeling angry at himself as he hurried to the kindergarten to pick up his son.

Finally, after an exhausting race against time and traffic he reached his goal. He was in such a hurry, he never saw the lady with red hair coming until he collided with her at the main door and they both bounced off to the ground.

"Sorry" he said as he got up, and resumed running without looking back. This was the third time on two weeks; William has all the right to be mad at him this time for being late. Ash had even run out of convincing excuses.

"Sorry" the woman replied as she got up too, out of politeness but meanwhile not paying him much attention; she, too, was very late.

He ran in his brand new Armani suit in the narrow hallway that led to his son's class. He could hear the woman's hurried footsteps right behind him.

The closed door came nearer and nearer.

**_Her..._**

"Mommy!" a little girl got up from her tiny pink chair and ran into her mother's open arms. She had red hair just like her Mom.

"I'm so sorry I'm late, Ashley" Misty apologized sincerely as she wrapped her arms around the most precious thing to her in this world and lifted her up.

The man in the Armani suit finally reached the door, panting heavily. Misty grinned at the idea that she had beaten him in running, although she knew that most of the credit belonged to her shorts and sneakers.

"William" he said out of breath.

For the first time, Misty noticed the boy who was sitting on the chair next to Ashley. He got up, fumes almost coming out of his ears, and walked with steady, slow steps towards his Dad who had bent down to meet him eye to eye.

"Hi there, little Pokemon master" the man said in a desperate tone.

The boy simply stood angrily in front of him, totally unimpressed.

The man got something out of his pocket and waved it in front of his son.

"I got you your favorite lollipop" he said hopefully.

The boy wasn't impressed but he was a little pleased.

"Thank you" he said dryly as he unwrapped it.

"Mommy, I want a lollipop too" Ashley said.

"I'll buy you one from the supermarket, Ashley" Misty said.

**_Him..._**

Ash looked up at hearing the name.

For the first time, he clearly saw the woman who had run faster than him and her daughter. They both had red hair and aquatic blue eyes that seemed soothingly familiar.

Suddenly it dawned at him. Feeling shocked, he took a sharp breath.

"Misty?" he asked.

**_Her..._**

Misty looked up at the man and his son as she heard her name being said. His shocked expression sent a chill down her spine. Something seemed to be wrong with him…something seemed to be familiar about him. Those rich chocolate eyes and this messy yet cool pitch black hair. But something seemed to be missing from the picture. A frown formed on her face as she struggled to remember what. She gasped when she realized that it was a red cap that was missing.

**Later that day...**

They were sitting across from each other in a little, quiet café. They had a lot of catching up to do.

"After I left" Misty was saying, before pausing a bit. "I got married"

"Directly?" Ash asked in a rather loud tone, surprised.

A few heads turned towards them.

She blushed a little and turned her face towards the wall. Ash grinned sheepishly and muttered a sorry.

"After about a year" she answered, still blushing but now facing him.

Another awkward moment of silence passed by. Actually, they had spent almost half the hour of their meeting in awkward silence.

Ash nodded slowly.

"I pretty much did the same" he said before taking a sip from his mug.

Misty looked away for a second to hide the unexplainable look in her eyes.

"So, who was the lucky girl?" she asked in a fake tone of excitement.

"Melody" Ash answered simply, yet rather bitterly. "May I ask who the lucky man was?"

Misty's cheeks reddened further more.

"Gary" she answered quickly, looking away again, feeling unreasonably guilty as Ash took a sharp shocked breath.

"Gary! The Gary Oak?" he asked in disbelief.

Misty only nodded silently.

"Funny" Ash said trying to act normal, "I've always thought you'd end up with Rudy"

"I was young" she explained.

Ash nodded in a mocking understanding mode. "Must be, after all it was Gary Oak" he sneered.

Misty narrowed her eyes at him. "We're divorced now" she added angrily.

Ash's features softened. "Really? Me too!" he exclaimed.

Misty raised an eyebrow suspiciously at him.

"I swear" he confirmed, raising one hand in the air and putting the other on his chest.

Misty giggled shyly.

"So, what are you doing for a living… a Pokemon master?" she asked.

Ash shook his head slowly.

"I became the pokemon gym leader at Pallet" he said rather ashamed.

"Hey, why the grim face?" Misty said smiling sadly. "It's not so bad, better than me, anyway"

Ash looked at her questioningly. "Why? What happened to you? Became the best water pokemon training?" he asked sarcastically.

She pulled a strand of her coppery hair behind her ear.

"I wish" she said sadly. "I never managed to leave the gym again, so I just stayed there until I married Gary and became a house wife, but now since I'm divorced I'm back picking up where I left"

Ask stared at his mug. Another awkward moment of silence passed by.

"So, none of our dreams came true, huh?" he asked grinning absent-mindedly.

Misty stared at her mug too, tears threatening to spill from her beautiful eyes.

Suddenly, there was a severe quake and the entire café shook, then a large hole formed in the far away wall as blocks fell onto the ground from it. Ask grabbed Misty and pulled her onto the ground and kneeled above her to protect her from possible collapsing bits of rock, while people screamed and screeched, running in every direction.

Ash coughed as dust filled the entire place.

"Prepare for trouble," a familiar female voice said.

"And make it double" a male voice just as familiar added.

Ash looked up and as the cloud of dust started to settle down he could mark out two figures, a male and a female standing where a large part of the wall used to be.

"To protect the world from devastation"

"To unite all people within our nation"

Their figures became clearer as more dust settled down. Ash's brain started to overcome the shock and his memory started to rewind old memories.

"To denounce the evils of truth and love"

Something was different though, the tone was never so sad, always excited.

"To extend our dreams to the stars above"

He remembered their faces, but not their names.

"Jessie"

"James"

Oh yes, that's it!

"Team Rocket is killing at the speed of light"

That was odd!

"Surrender now or prepare to fight"

"Jessie and James!" Ash heard Misty gasp from beneath him. He got off her hurriedly; glad she was too shocked to notice him blushing heavily. Quickly, he returned his attention to the rogues he hadn't seen in ages.

"Team Rocket!" Ash exclaimed in disgust.

"So you both remember us" Jessie spat in disgust.

"How can we ever forget?' Misty yelled angrily.

Ash squinted as he undusted the memory of when he had last met them. They had had a big fight, there were lots of swear words. His eyes watered at the memory of the incident that had changed his life.

"What do you want?" he asked them angrily, as he slowly got up, Misty following suit.

"We want revenge" James answered simply.

"What for?" Ash said in a steely manner, "You killed Pikachu, I killed Meowth. We're even"

He heard Misty utter a loud gasp at the way he was speaking. He only did it once, on the last day they met. People started to sneak away and within a few minutes almost only the four of them were left.

"That was an accident" Jessie said through gritted teeth. "You had no right to do what you did"

"I had every right" Ash yelled shaking fists with anger, feeling dangerously on the verge of tears.

"We're gonna kill you both" Jessie promised wickedly.

Ash stood in front of Misty defensively, his back to her. "Run while I distract them" he whispered to her from the corner of his mouth.

"No way" she whispered as she grabbed his arm tightly from behind. "I'm not leaving…not again"

Ash wanted to turn and smile assuringly at her, but James was about to throw two pokeballs.

"Gengar, Persian. Go" he called out menacingly as he threw them into the air and the two unusually fierce looking pokemons appeared.

"Fearow, Nidoking. Go" Like James, Jessie released two evil looking pokemon.

Ash and Misty exchanged one meaningful look and they got it all clear, a habit that they hadn't done for a long while.

"Venusaur, Hitmonchan. Go" Ash yelled as he threw two pokeballs.

"Golduck, Poliwhirl. Go" Misty did the same.

"Knock out those pokemon" Ash ordered his pokemon.

"Don't let any of them do any harm to his pokemon" Misty ordered hers.

The pokemon seemed to know that they had to do on their own. They were the elites of their owners.

"C'mon, I'm getting you out of here" Ash told Misty quietly as he grabbed her hand and moved to the nearest exit. Misty allowed him to drag her. They were nearly at the door but TR had beaten them to it and stopped in front of them like barriers.

"Where are you going?" James sneered. "The party ain't over yet"

"Not until someone gets killed" Jessie added.

Ash took a cautious step back, pulling Misty behind him protectively.

"Go away or else…" he warned them.

"Or else wha-" But before James could finish, Ash had given him a hard blow in the abdomen that made him fall to his knees while clutching his stomach tightly.

"C'mon" Ash told Misty as he grabbed her hand and resumed the run for the nearby door.

"Not so fast" James mumbled as he swiftly swirled on the floor so that Ash tripped on his leg and fell onto the floor hard, pulling Misty down with him. Misty hit her head hard against the floor and rolled away slowly, feeling painful.

"We're not done yet" he added as he leaped onto the groaning Ash on the floor. They started rolling over each other, each trying to pin the other to the floor.

Jessie saw the chance and unsheathed a dagger she had been holding all along. Breathing nervously, she posed to stab Ash the second James held him firmly. Finally, Ash had James pinned down underneath him and his back was completely exposed to her. She raised the dagger high with both arms and was ready to strike when Misty launched at her, bringing her down by the waist.

"Oh no you won't!" she yelled as she kicked the dagger away from Jessie after she broke free.

Ash turned on hearing their impact with the ground and James took it an opportunity to jerk him aside successfully. He tried to jump onto him, but Ash rolled away quickly and got up.

"Let's finish this, James" he spat angrily as he took off his jacket and threw it aside.

"I'm more than ready" James replied as he got up too and took a fighting pose.

They moved in a calculating circle before James finally launched at him and they started wrestling viciously, until Ash finally knocked James out with a powerful blow in the chin. Breathing hard he looked around for Misty, and saw her on the ground, panting, next to an unconscious Jessie. Apparently she had become a lot stronger since they last met. He couldn't help but smile as he staggered to where she laid.

Misty's mind swirled violently. She couldn't believe that she had actually beaten Jessie. For a few seconds during the struggle she was a hair away from passing out but she knew that Jessie would then definitely finish her off and Ash would have to fight the two villains on his own. All those years on her own had made her tougher than the scrawny brat she used to be. She became a different person as the years passed by, a much better person. She looked up as shiny shoes stopped in front of her and saw an exhausted looking Ash smiling down at her as he stretched his hand for her. She accepted it willingly and he helped her up. She nearly fell but he caught her perfectly around the waist and she saw for the first time that he had a tiny cut on his right cheek. She raised a hand to touch it but stopped a few centimeters away and let it drop to her side slowly, then looked away in shame to avoid his hurt expression. The memory of what he did on their last day together haunted her, the image of the monster Ash had became after Pikachu's murder ached her every time she remembered it.

"If you want me to leave you, I'll get you out of here then I'll never show you my face again" he told her half-heartedly, but dead serious.

"No!" she answered immediately, terrified at the idea.

"No?" he asked, his eye brows higher than usual and a weak smile forming on his lips.

"No" she repeated smiling back, no matter what she won't repeat the mistake she did before; she'll neither let him go nor leave again. They were given a second chance and she'd rather die than waste it.

His smile widened as he released her carefully and started to move, pulling her by the hand like a little child. She tried to follow but searing pain shot through her entire left leg and she collapsed nearly bringing Ash down with her.

"What's wrong?" Ash asked as he bent down next to her.

"I think I twisted my ankle badly fighting with Jessie" Misty answered between groans.

Ash lifted the swollen ankle into his lap to examine it. Misty let out a small 'ouch' as he gently squeezed it.

"I think you did" Ash said gravely.

"Would I lie to you?" Misty tried to ease his intensity; every thing was fine now, Team Rocket were out cold and so were their Pokemons and they were back together.

"Let me help you" he said as he stood up and grabbed her hand and helped her stand on her other leg. She nearly fell and had to hold onto him for balance. He giggled softly at her struggle.

"I love you" she said unexpectantly as she regained her balance.

Ash stared at her; surprised.

"You do?!" he exclaimed, his childish features cuter than ever with surprise.

Misty would've laughed if she didn't feel so taken back. He noticed her expression and cleared his throat. To her amusement, a faint blush found its path to his cheeks.

He opened his mouth to reply but stopped as a bullet shot echoed and Misty suddenly fell against his chest. His breath caught up in his throat as he heard her moan weakly and felt warm, thick, moisture lick his hands which rested on her back. He adjusted her into cradle position in his arms and gently bent down to release her carefully onto the floor.

"Misty" he gasped on seeing her face twisted in pain.

He looked around and saw James, still on the floor, holding a small gun in his outstretched hand, an evil grin on his face. Ash's mind started to comprehend.

"Now we're even" he said before his head hit the floor and his body seemed lifeless again.

"Ash" Misty's barely audible voice forced him to look down at her, his arms were still beneath her and now he could see the crimson liquid form a puddle underneath her.

Breathing hard and terribly blinded by his tears he looked around helplessly, his mouth open in a failing attempt to scream for help; all what came out of his throat was choked croaks.

"Until we meet again" she struggled to whisper those words before her irises dilated, decreasing the amount of sapphire in her eyes and her expression went blank as her head dropped to the right.

Ash's tears fell from his eyes and dropped onto her chest like heavy droplets of rain. He moved his lower jaw uselessly; no voice came out. He slid a hand from her back all the way to her face, causing a trail of blood all the way to her cheek. He touched it tenderly, refusing to believe that she wouldn't smile at him warmly again.

**Less than an hour later...**

He sat on a chair, holding a cup of coffee with both hands firmly. His eyes followed the precious body being carried away in a black, shiny sac with a long, silver zipper; a body bag. He wanted to be angry or frustrated. He wanted to want to beat up someone or even kill him or her, but he didn't. He felt blank.

Utterly blank.

His eyes turned to Gary who was crying silently in a corner, mourning over his ex-wife, his part of the flame was still alive, probably thinking that no one is noticing him. He was wrong; many of his co-workers working on the crime scene eyed him pitifully. Ash couldn't afford to spare him any; it was all consumed on himself. Not only has he lost the person he had been searching for, for almost a decade, but also he never even got the chance to tell her how he truly felt for her. She told him that she loved him, but he was too struck to return the favor. He would've been able to heal faster if he had never found out that she loved him back. All these years he thought he was a fool only to know that she was a bigger one; they were both fools. Love fools. All these years just wasted in agony and disturbed sleep when they could've been in each other's arms.

"Daddy" a tiny voice yelled frantically. His eyes slowly searched for the source of the barely familiar voice. He saw her, her familiar red hair bouncing up and down as she ran into Gary's open arms. None of the officers dared block her path to her Dad. He wrapped his arms protectively around his child and lifted her up.

Although her face was buried in his shoulder he could tell by the bobbling of her little shoulders that she was crying heavily.

"Where's mommy?" she asked, finally looking up.

He was right; her adorable sapphire eyes welled with tears. Silent ones raced down Gary's cheeks to answer her.

Ash looked away; he couldn't handle more agony. He got up and walked out slowly. He was greeted by a cold draft as he set foot outside, the cut in his right cheek burned in reaction along with a few other cuts and goose bumps tickled his skin. He passed by Lily who was foolish enough to bring Ashley. She stared after him and he heard her gasp loudly as she remembered him. He suddenly stopped and turned, looking at Ashley through the confused Lily.

"Ashley" he mumbled as he realized that she was all what was left from Misty. He stared at her for a while, Lily staring at him, trying to make sense of his stare that seemed to pass right over her left shoulder. His stare resembled a tiger's, but somehow affectionately.

_One day, I'll be back for Ashley, she and William are all what I've got left in this world…_

He turned and walked away, aware of Lily's stare burning his back…

**Hmmm…so, what do you think? I'd be glad to hear your opinion (please note that I said 'hear', not receive on the head, so no death threats or hitting on the head!).**


End file.
